Car-brake.



no MODEL.

IIIIIIIWIIII PATENTED NOV. 24, 1903.

'W. D. REARWIN. OAR BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30. 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 744,981. PATENIED NOV. 24, 1903.

W. D. REARWIN;

GAR BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30. 1903.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHBETS$HHET 2.

IIIIIIIIII IMI\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ no. 744,9ei.

Miran drains Patented November 24, 1903.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 744,981, dated November 24, 1903. Application filed April 30,1903. Serial No. 155.025. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILBER D. REARWIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Brakes 5 and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates in general to carbrakes, and more particularly to combined wheel and rail brakes.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a car-brake in which the application of brake-shoes to the wheels will, through the rotation of the wheels, automatically apply brake-shoes to the rails, thereby augmenting the retardation of the car due to the wheel brake-shoes by the frictional resistance afforded by the rail brake-shoes, and which will be comparatively simple in construction and operation and efficient and durable in use.

A further object of my invention is to provide a combined Wheel and rail car-brake in which the rail brakes will be applied in front of the front wheels of a car-truck by the wheel brake-shoes through the rotation of the wheels, and will consequently serve, through their engagement with the rails,to increase the force with which the wheel-shoes engage the front wheels of the truck.

My invention, generally described, consists in a combined wheel and rail car-brake comprising vertically-movable hangers supported by the ends of the frame of the car-truck, wheel and rail shoes pivotally supported upon the hangers, springs for normally elevating the hangers so as to move the brake-shoes out of engagement with the rails, the hangers being located on the outside of the wheels of the truck, whereby the rail-shoes at the front of the truck are forced into contact with the rails, while the rail-shoes at the rear of the truck remain inoperative.

Myinvention will be more fully described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the sameis illustrated as embodied in a convenient and practical form, and in which-- Figure 1 is a central sectional view through a car-truck provided with my improvement; Fig. 2, an end view looking from the left in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a plan view of a car-truck with my improvement applied thereto.

Similar reference characters are used to designate similar parts in the several figures of the drawings.

A'indicates a car-truck of any ordinary construction and comprising side and end frames mounted upon pairs of wheels A and A The other parts of the truck need not be described in detail, as the construction of the truck forms no part of my invention.

0 0 indicate rods mounted upon the opposite ends of the truck and extending parallel therewith. Any suitable means may be provided for securing the rods to the truck-such, for instance, as integral brackets c 0, extending to and rigidly secured to the side-bars of the truck-frame.

D indicates a hanger provided with an elongated slot at at its upper end, through which a rod 0 extends. A hanger D is located adjacent to each of the four wheels of the truck, as clearly shown in the drawings. Pivotally secured to each of the hangers D at a point adjacent to the periphery of the corresponding wheel is a brake-head E Such brake-head is of a construction to support an ordinary wheel brake-shoe F.

f indicates a key of the usual construction for uniting the wheel brake-shoe F to are interposed between the hangers and the wheel brake-shoes.

A lug D projects laterally from the inner side of each of the hangers D and is provided with a hole having a vertical axis, through The upper end of the which passes a rod D.

rod D is provided with a slot (1, which surrounds the rod C at a point adjacent to the upper end of the hanger. A set-screw or other fastening device is preferably used to retain the rod D in proper position with respect to the transverse supporting-rod G. A coil-spring J surrounds the portion of the rod D below the lug D (1 indicatesa nut secured to the lower end of the rod D and against which the lower end of the spring J presses. The spring is consequently retained between the lug D and the nut (1 d indicates a lock-nut.

A transverse rod unites the hangers at each end of the truck rigidly together. A second transverse rod K is secured at its opposite ends to the pairs ofhangers at each end of the truck.

G indicates a pair of diverging levers, the ends of which are secured to the rod K at points adjacent to the hangers united thereby. In order that the ends of the levers G may be retained in a fixed position upon the rod K at points adjacent to the hangers, the latter are preferably provided with pockets D into which the ends of the levers extend, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The converging ends of the levers G are pivotally united to the lower end of the brake-lever G by means of a pin g. A second pair of diverging levers G extendto the rod K, which unites the pairs of hangers at the opposite end of the truck. The outer ends of the levers G are also received in sockets D preferably formed integrally with the brakehangers. The converging ends of the levers G are pivotally united at g to the brake-lever G at a point above the pivotal connection between the brake-lever and the converging ends of the pair of lovers G. A strap Lsurrounds'the converging ends of the levers G to guide and support the same, such strap being preferably supported beneath the spring-plank a of the truck, as shown in Fig. 1. The upper end of the brake-lever G is provided with meanssuch, for instance, as the hole gfor uniting the same to any suitable form of brake-rigging. The lever G is normally retained in position to hold the wheel brake-shoes out of contact with the wheels by means of a spring M, which is united at one end to the lever and at the other end to an eye m on the truck-frame.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The brake-lever Gis swung away from the center of the truck by the brake-rigging when the brakes are to be applied. Such motionof the brake-leveris communicated through the pivots g and g to the pairs of levers G and G so that they are drawn toward the center of the truck. The wheel brake-shoes at both ends of the truck are consequently forced into contact with the peripheries of the wheels through the medium of the rods K and pairs of hangers. When the direction of movement of the car is toward the left in Fig. 1, the rotation of the wheels in the direction of the arrows forces the pair of hangers at the front end of the truck downwardly, so that the rail brakeshoes engaged the rails. It is evident that the rail brake-shoes at the rear end of the truck remain inactive, as the tendency of the rotation of the wheels is to lift the supportinghangers. It is well known that when the brakes are applied to the wheels of a truck there is a tendency on the part of the latter to rotate about the points of contact between the front wheels and the rails, and such tendency consequently decreases the traction between the rear wheels of the truck and the rails and increases the traction between the front Wheels of the truck and the rails, thereby rendering it possible to apply the brake-shoes to the front wheels with greater force than to the rear wheels. It is evident that my brake takes advantage of this tendency and applies the wheel-shoes with greater force to the front wheels than to the rear wheels, owing to the engagement between the rail-shoes and rails augmenting the braking power. When the braking pressure applied to the lever G is discontinued, the spring M returns the lever to its normal position, which forces the pairs of levers G and G outwardly, thereby swinging the pairs of hangers away from the wheels. The springs J at once elevate the hangers to their normal positions upon the release of the brakes, thereby elevating the rail-shoes above the rails.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that I have invented a combined wheel and rail car-brake in which the railshoes are automatically operated by the Wheel-shoes at the front end of the truck, in which the rail-shoes evenly engage the rails, and in which the wheel-shoes are forced against the wheels by power applied at points adjacent to the shoes.

While I have described more or less precisely the details of construction, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself thereto, as I contemplate changes in form, the proportion of parts, and the substitution of equivalents, as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a car-brake, the combination with means for forcing the wheel-shoes into con-' tact with the peripheries of the wheels.

2. In a car-brake, the combination with a truck, of vertically-movable hangers yieldingly supported at the ends of the truck,

wheel brake shoes carried by said hangers and I adapted to engage the outside peripheries of the wheels, rail brake-shoes also carried by said hangers, and means for simultaneously forcing the wheel-shoesinto contact with the wheels whereby the rail-shoes at the front end of the truck only are forced'into engagement with the rails by the rotation of the carwheels.

3. In a car-brake, the combination with a truck, of vertically-movable hangers yieldingly supported at the ends of the truck, wheel brake-shoes carried by the hangers and adapted to engage the outside peripheries of the wheels, brake-heads pivotally secured to the under surfaces of the hangers, springs interposed between the hangers and said brakeheads, and rail brake-shoes detachably secured to said brake-heads.

4:. In a car-brake, the combination with a truck, of transverse rods supported at the opposite ends of the truck, vertically-movable hangers having elongated slots at their upper ends surrounding said transverse rods, springs for normally retaining said hangers in their elevated positions, wheel brake-shoes carried by the hangers and adapted to engage the outside peripheries of the wheels, brake-heads pivotally secured to the under surfaces of the hangers, springs interposed between the hangers and said brake-heads, and rail brake-shoes detachably secured to said brake-heads.

5. In a car-brake, the combination with a truck, of vertically-movable hangers supported at the'ends of the truck, wheel and rail brake-shoes carried by said hangers, transverse rods uniting the hangers at the ends of the truck in pairs, pairs of horizontal levers connected to said rods at points adjacent to the hangers and overlapping at the center of the truck, a brake-lever pivotally connected to said horizontal levers, and means for actuating said brake-lever.

6. In a car-brake, the combination with a truck, of vertically-mo vable hangers supported at the ends of the truck, wheel and rail brake-shoes carried by said hangers, transverse rods uniting the hangers at the ends of the truck in pairs, pairs of horizontal levers connected at their outer ends to said rods, pockets surrounding the ends of said horizontal levers formed integrally with said hangers, and means for simultaneously drawing said horizontal levers toward the center of the truck to apply the shoes to the wheels.

7. In a combined wheel and rail brake, the combination with a vertically-movable hanger having an elongated slot in its upper end, of a supporting-rod passing through said slot and mounted upon a car-truck, a rod depend ing from said supporting-rod and passing through a lug projecting laterally from said hanger, a coil-spring surrounding said depending rod and confined between said lug and a nut on the lower end of the rod, wheel and rail brake-shoes carried by said hanger, and means for forcing the wheel brake-shoe into contact with the wheel.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

W. D. REARVVIN.

Witnesses:

GEO. L. WILKINSON, CLARA O. CUNNINGHAM. 

